Review: Dragon Ball Super – Episode 63

Last week’s instalment of Dragon Ball Super saw Trunks battling against Black Goku and Zamasu in his new Super Saiyan form. Nobly, he sent Goku and Vegeta back in time so they could try to figure out a way to defeat the terrible twosome. Even with his newfound power, taking on two deadly adversaries is no easy task. So how did he get on?Spoilers after the bump.

Do Not Disgrace the Saiyan Cells!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PafiVL0Q1hk

The Curtain of Vegeta’s Fierce Battle Rises!

In what must be considered something of an anti-climax, when we join Trunks in the future, he’s not looking in great shape and, once again, finds himself on the sidelines, apparently having been defeated by his enemies. Just how he manages to consistently survive such encounters is unknown. Despite being insanely powerful, it would seem that Zamasu and Black are pretty woeful villains when it comes to finishing the job. Is it a case that they really can’t stop Yajirobe from saving Trunks’ ass time and time again, or do they just really enjoy beating down on the young half-breed on a weekly basis?

Either way, amongst the grim seriousness that is the future timeline there is actually some room for humour. When Trunks is revived, he is somewhat delirious and nearly kisses Yajirobe as he fantasises about his beloved Mai. Fortunately for all involved, he snaps out of this at the last second but then recoils in horror as he wonders if Yajirobe administered the Senzu bean to him in the same fashion which he did to Mai, i.e. mouth to mouth. Suffice to say, much awkwardness ensued.

The next segment of Episode 63 gave us something which we don’t see too much of in Dragon Ball; humans using technology in an attempt to take out a super-powered being. Taking up a sniper’s position, Mai attempts to assassinate Black using a special bullet which Bulma invented shortly before being killed by Black. While, at first thought, one might think that such a plan could never work, we must remember that even an all-powerful Saiyan can be vulnerable to lesser attacks if he lets his guard down. Such a fate befell Goku in Resurrection ‘F’ after all. Unfortunately though, Black manages to dodge the bullet and is none too pleased that someone had the audacity to try and shoot him during “drinking tea and spreading gossip with Zamasu time”.

Reversing their usual roles, Trunks shows up to save Mai for a change. He then launches into a furious attack on the pair of villains, with Black getting the worst of it. In a clever move, Trunks throws his sword at him as a distraction, before hitting him with a Galick Gun blast, an attack made famous by his father Vegeta. In an attempt to put an end to the immortal Zamasu, Trunks tries another move from Vegeta’s playbook; blowing himself up. Seeing how Zamasu can instantaneously regrow his head and survive anything, what exactly was going through Trunks’ mind at this point is unclear, as it clearly wasn’t going to work. The point became moot when Black woke up and intervened, stabbing Trunks in the back just as he was about to annihilate himself.

Just in time to be late, Goku and Vegeta show up on the battlefield. Honestly, Trunks has been really riding his luck with these last minute saves. Between his long-suffering girlfriend, the surprisingly resourceful Yajirobe and his time-travelling father, the kid has a lot of people looking out for him. Humorously, Vegeta tells Zamasu that they’ve brought a coffin to put Zamasu in. In reference to the urn which Goku intends to use as the base of his Mafubu technique, he mentions that it’s a little bit small, but should do the trick. No sooner than Vegeta’s done gloating, Black destroys the time machine (which had the urn in it). It’s almost as if Vegeta has never regretted bragging before the deed is done…

That said, Vegeta is now more than capable of backing up his confidence. Relishing the chance to beat the living crap out of a fellow who looks like his best frenemy, he launches into Black Goku and tears him a new one. For fans of the Saiyan Prince, it’s a satisfying encounter as Vegeta just wails on Black relentlessly while verbally mauling him to boot (he had it coming to be fair). Black is utterly shocked at how much stronger Vegeta managed to become in such a short space of time. Unbeknownst to Black, Vegeta spent half a day in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber (which translates to half a year’s worth of training time), destroying it in the process – an act which terrified Dendé, but didn’t seem to phase Mr Popo. At this point, Mr Popo is starting to feel more like the terrifying Team Four Star version of the character than the friendly genie we all know and… ‘love’ isn’t the word I’m looking for here, but I think you get the jist.

At the end of Episode 62, Gowasu said he would ‘deal with’ Zamasu himself, and he attempts to do so before Vegeta fights Black. Turns out, Gowasu’s plan was to show up and attempt to reason with the cocky little tyrant. Suffice to say, it didn’t work at all. The sequence isn’t entirely pointless though, as he is accompanied by the Universe 7 Kaioshin, who ends up going on an expositional tangent and reveals the answer to one of the great Dragon Ball Super mysteries. As it turns out, Whis is not actually a God, but an Angel. As it so happens, when Zamasu and Black killed the future’s Kaoishin, the linked God of Destruction (Beerus) also died. This in turn took Whis out of the equation, as Angels essentially become inactive when they have no God to look after. While the scene didn’t really add too much to Episode 63 in terms of plot progression, it was pretty interesting from a mythos perspective.

While logic completely jumps out the window at certain points during the episode, the 63rd instalment of Dragon Ball Super is an action packed romp, with a lot going on and plenty for fans to digest over the course of the next week as they wait for Episode 64.

Sean is Geek Ireland's resident dinosaur enthusiast, having been fascinated by prehistory since a time before he could read, speak or stand in an upright position (he still struggles to do at least one of these things on a daily basis).
Known as one of the biggest dinosaur fans Ireland has ever produced, Sean has delivered talks on his favourite subject at many venues and events including the Irish Film Institute, the UCD Science Expression Festival, Tayto Park, Dublin Comic Con and even London's Comedy Store.